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It's been a while since I posted a show and tell. I started a blog, and need photos to go along with the stories, so you guys are now unwitting victims of my relentless pursuit of infamy.

I finished this little craft knife about a week ago. I then listed it on Etsy and posted it here on the For Sale forum. This morning, on my way to mailing a parcel that is going all the way to California I stopped at a garden where there is a ginkgo tree growing a couple of yards inside the fence. We had a bit of a storm last night, so I managed to pick a number of fallen leaves off the ground outside the fence without having to trespass. I love ginkgo leaves, having used them as a theme for a couple of years and I always keep a couple of leaves for reference. With our move two months ago all my dried leaves got crushed.

Back home I considered the day's work when inspiration struck. I immediately deactivated the Etsy listing for this knife; don't want it to sell while I am busy tripling its value!

I did a couple of layout sketches, each leaf a simple half rounds with a stem. When I was happy with the composition I made a number of copies, cut each leaf from the paper and glued it onto the metal I chose for the inlays: Copper, brass and nickel silver

Each leaf was then sawn using a jeweller's saw fitted with a 0/5 blade. I broke only three in the process. Each is sawn at a slight angle, the bottom of the inlay must be larger than the top to allow the raised edge of the pocket to trap the inlay when the edge is tapped down with a punch.

I transferred the layout from one of the copies using carbon paper, then went over the outlines with a permanent marker. In the pic below you can see that the first copper leaf is in place, and I have raised the edges and started cutting the hollow for the nickel silver leaf that fits against it. After carving it will look like the nickel silver leaf is partially beneath the edge of the copper leaf.

It takes some careful filing of the abutting edge to ensure a tight fit.

All inlay and carving work is done using hammer and chisels, I also use various punches to set the raised edges.

Next instalment I'll show a bit more of the inlay process and the carving. Thank you for looking, questions, comments welcome.

This knife is finished, the last bit of work was to do the last couple of leaves, then I had to get rid of all the chisel marks using a deft touch with a very sharp scraper. Final finish was applied using abrasive powder and a toothbrush, followed by patina, then the highlights were brought up by brushing with finely crushed charcoal.